Fox 2000 took their sweet time figuring out of they even wanted to make a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Originally planned to be their next big tween franchise, the film did pretty well, scoring over $220M but never exactly catching fire the way they hoped. It worked wonders for it's star, Logan Lerman, who found himself on the shortlist for The Amazing Spider-Man before it ultimately went to Andrew Garfield, and he was soon cast in The Three Musketeers and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Now that the decision has been made to follow-up with Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters, Fox has been taking an even slower pace when it comes to casting. Lerman and co-stars Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, and Brandon T. Jackson are expected to return, with the awesomely named Thor Freudenthal taking over for Christopher Columbus in the director's chair. Now Douglas Smith, best known for playing eldest son Ben Henrickson on HBO's Big Love, is in talks for an unspecified role.
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski(Agent Cody Banks) were hired last May to pen the script, based on the second book in Rick Riordan's mythological series, following Percy and his friends' quest to find the Golden Fleece and save their friend, Grover.
By the time the March 26th 2013 release date rolls around, it will have been three years since the first film. Fox should've jumped on this a lot sooner, and it still feels like they're dragging ass a little bit. March isn't that far away, so this will have to be a fast shoot. Expect to hear a lot more casting info in the coming days. [Variety]
